Dancing With the Devil (32 page)

Three years of marriage, and he still couldn’t stop touching her. How pathetic was he?

“It’s from Ernest and Polly.” She skimmed the letter quickly and leaned her head back against him. “Another girl,” she sighed. “Louisa Mae.”

He kissed the top of her head and held her a little bit tighter. “How’s Polly?”

“Everyone’s doing well,” she said, continuing to skim the letter for more details. “Mr. and Mrs. Hale are there to mind little Katie for a while. Sounds like Mr. Hale is enjoying Houston more than any of them…oh!” Her fingers flew to her lips. “Ernest has finished their new house. Isn’t that wonderful?”

She twisted in his arms and looked up at him, her face awash with joy.

“Yes,” he said, sweeping his thumb over her cheek. He couldn’t look her in the eye, so he focused on her lips. “If I could give you a child—”

“Shh.” She pressed her fingers over his mouth and smiled up at him with even more joy than she had a moment ago. “You’re what I want, Deacon. You give me more than I ever dreamed of having.”

“Everything but a child.”

“Deacon.” It wasn’t sorrow he heard in her voice, and it wasn’t regret. It was love, plain and simple. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want children. I did. I do. But it’s not a case of you not being able to give me one. It’s a case of
us
not being able to give
each other
one.”

The pain in his heart eased a little, but it didn’t disappear completely. Every time news came of someone’s impending arrival, that pain was sure to surface again.

“Besides”—Rhea wiggled her eyebrows as she pressed herself against him—“If we had children, we wouldn’t be able to do this right in the middle of the kitchen.”

“Do what?” he asked with all the innocence he could muster, even as she reached for the buttons of his trousers.

“A little of this.” She pulled his shirt out of his waistband and pressed a soft kiss against his belly. Deacon sucked in a breath but didn’t move. He quite enjoyed her little bits of this.

“And a little of that.” She unbuttoned his trousers, pushed them down his legs and brushed her fingers up the entire length of him.

Oh, he liked her little bits of that even more.

“Right here in the kitchen?” he rasped. “Really?”

“Really.” She popped half a dozen buttons off his shirt in her haste to get it opened. “And then the sitting room, maybe in the hall…”

He made short work of her dress and left it pooled at her feet. “What about the bedroom?” he murmured against her breast.

“Oh yes.” She pressed up into his touch and sighed. “Most definitely the bedroom.”

“Good,” he moaned, sliding his fingers beneath the waistband of her drawers. “’Cuz I’m going to want a whole lot of this and that.”

“Deacon?” Her fingers were in his hair, her lips on his throat.

“Mm-hmm?”

“Say it again.”

“I love you, Rhea.” He slipped her drawers down with one hand while he ripped her chemise off with the other.

“Swear you’ll love me for the rest of time.”

He pressed a kiss against her belly. “Didn’t we already do that in front of the judge?”

She moved against him, slipping up on her toes, then slowly back down. “Swear it again.”

“Hmm. Do that again.”

Her fingers moved lower, seeking him out. “Deacon.”

He swallowed a long growl, lifted her off the ground and slid deep inside her.

“I swear it by all that is holy.” He waggled his brow and kissed her waiting lips. “Or not.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is dedicated to my three amazing sisters:

Soo, my one-woman entourage
Don, who continues to pray for my sorry arse
and Annie, with love and prayers.

As always, enormous thanks to Ron, Thomas, Michael
& John, my editor Leah Hultenschmidt, my agent Holly
Root, and a very special thank-you to Sean, who went back
in after the fire to bring out my laptop and manuscript.

CRITICS ARE CHARMED BY
LAURA DREWRY’S
THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER
!

“Drewry’s debut is a clever paranormal Western with a bad-girl heroine and a saintly hero struggling with love, loyalty, duty and passion. It reads like the best of Americana, with the right hint of devilishness, proving that naughty can be good.”

—
Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“
The Devil’s Daughter
is a delightful fantasy romance with crisp and snappy dialogue, lots of passion and emotion, and a few laughs.”

—Romance Reviews Today

“Laura Drewry pens a provocative Western that has many twists and turns that add a lot of pizzazz to the unique premise. I laughed at the antics and bantering and my heart soared at the fairy-tale ending.”

—Romance Junkies

“I knew there was more than meets the eye, but didn’t expect to end up liking Lucy and cheering for her. I think you’ll laugh and cry along with Lucy and Jed as they try to fight their attraction.”

—Once Upon a Romance

“Drewry has a humorous touch with her story that relieves the darkness without becoming too campy.…Tender and entertaining.”

—All About Romance

Other
Leisure
books by Laura Drewry:

THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER

Copyright

A LEISURE BOOK
^®

December 2008

Published by

Dorchester Publishing Co.,
Inc. 200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

Copyright © 2008 by Laura Drewry

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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0578-0

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